Richmond Hill regional councillor Brenda Hogg set to leave politics

Yorkregion.com
June 12, 2018
Kim Zarzour

Longtime Richmond Hill politician Brenda Hogg is retiring.

The regional councillor made the announcement at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

Hogg, who was recognized June 3 by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) as the longest consecutive-serving politician in the history of the federation, served as a director of the FCM board for 17 years.

A mother of four, a grandmother and resident of Richmond Hill for more than 50 years, Hogg says she won’t be running again in this year’s municipal election.

Instead, at the age of 65, she plans to travel with her husband and take a much-needed break from the challenging world of municipal politics.

“It’s a tough job. There’s a lot of stress. It’s not just ribbon-cutting,” she says.

First elected to the local school board in 1991, Hogg has served as the town’s deputy mayor and regional councillor as well as director with the FCM since 1997, acting as vice-president at large and various other posts.

Major accomplishments include helping secure gas tax funds for local transit improvements, helping establish the FCM's green municipal fund to support solutions to environmental issues and chairing the federation’s annual quality of life reports.

But the highlight of her career, she says, was going toe-to-toe with developers to save the Oak Ridges Moraine.

“I went in with such innocence, or naivety,” she recalls of her initiative with MPP Mike Colle in 1999.  “It was exciting and scary. We were dealing with the big leagues, financial and political, and I was being recognized across Canada.”

The battle led to nationwide media attention and the threat of a lawsuit against her and the Globe and Mail by Fred DeGasparis, then president and CEO of Metrus.

Hogg says she leaves politics with mixed emotions.

“Part of me is very excited for this new chapter in life and part of me is very nervous because the work you do in politics is who you are. It will be a challenge to walk away and let other people take the reins.”

But walk away is what she vows to do.

“I can’t be watching council on livestream, voicing my comments on social media. I need to step away,” she says. “It’s always harder to stay in the building when you’ve switched off the lights and locked the doors.”

She may be gone at the end of this term, but her words will continue to be heard at the start of each council meeting with her words of inspiration that council adopted in 2015 as an alternative to an opening prayer:

“Tonight council comes together as representatives of our town to conduct the town’s business. We are glad to be joined by our many engaged citizens, both at home and with us here in council chambers tonight. May we use this time to hear from our residents; respond to the reports by the professional staff who inform us; and make fair and responsible decisions in the best interests of our community.”